


Spun

by robotboy



Series: Butterscotch [6]
Category: Black Sails
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Canon Disabled Character, Deaf Character, Established Relationship, F/F, Fluff, M/M, Matchmaking, New Year's Eve
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-29
Updated: 2018-12-29
Packaged: 2019-09-29 13:54:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17204603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/robotboy/pseuds/robotboy
Summary: John Silver, James Flint, and a very pretty new year party.





	Spun

Silver wakes up to the bed shaking. He groans, rolling over and thumping Flint sleepily on the arm. Flint thumps him back before turning off the alarm. The bed stills, and Silver sprawls on it. It’s 8pm, but it feels like three in the morning. They’d planned to nap, because neither of them would make it to midnight otherwise, but that was before Silver got all warm and comfortable next to Flint. Still, he wants to see fireworks, and his mouth feels like a desert. Flint passes him a water bottle, and by the time he’s sat up to drink it he feels a bit more human.

Flint is already dressing, pulling on tight jeans and then layers of shirts. Silver is much slower, taking a moment to get his leg on before picking one of his new socks. He considers a second flannel, but that might be overdoing it. Flint signs _Coffee?_ at him and Silver blinks for a moment before nodding emphatically. Flint disappears down to the kitchen and by the time Silver has followed, there’s a fresh espresso waiting for him.

At the front door, they pile on more clothes. Silver jams a beanie over his curls while Flint chooses his awful Christmas toque. It clashes with the handsome turned-up collar of his winter coat. He looks irresistibly dorky, and Silver has to kiss him. Flint smiles against his mouth, kissing back generously before giving Silver a tap on the rear to get them going out the door.

The beach is bustling with people braving the cold. The snow has melted since Christmas and it’s a salty, fresh chill, offset by gas heaters and food carts. The wharf is decorated with jaunty strings of bulbs, casting a warm light. A mist has settled over the water, making everything glow.

Silver spots Eme working the Queens cart.

 _I’m going to get some..._ Silver fingerspells, as he does when stuck with a new term: _fairy floss. Do you want some?_

 _Some_ ** _what_** _?_ Flint asks.

 _Cotton candy,_ Silver spells the American term.

 _Candy floss?_ Flint spells back pedantically.

Silver rolls his eyes. _I AM GOING TO GET A_ —he waves his hand in a floaty circle while signing ‘sweet’— _DO YOU WANT SOME OR NOT. DARLING,_ he adds.

Flint laughs, punching his shoulder. _No thank you,_ he kisses Silver’s cheek. _Tell Eme I say hello. I’m going to find Hal._

Silver kisses him back and weaves his way over to Eme’s cart.

‘It’s free for employees, right?’ he grins.

‘It’s a dollar,’ Eme corrects him, grinning back. ‘But you can have free glitter on it.’

She gives him a stick and he twirls it in the drum, until he’s spun up a cloud the size of his head. Eme takes his finished ball and dusts it with hopefully-edible glitter. Silver accepts it back and takes a bite.

‘Is Madi here?’ he asks, smacking his lips as the sugar turns sticky on them.

‘Mhm,’ Eme nods in the direction of the pier.

He can’t spot her in the crowd. He opens his mouth to ask where, and looks back to find Eme busying herself with the urn of hot chocolate next to the cotton candy machine. She pours out a cup and tops it with marshmallows and powdered sugar, the way Madi likes.

‘Would you bring her this?’ she asks, not quite meeting his eye.

Silver takes in her expression and makes a quick decision.

‘Why don’t you give it to her?’ he offers. ’I’ll mind the cart.’

‘Oh,’ Eme bites her lip. ‘I should really stay…’

‘Go on,’ Silver insists. ‘I’m too clumsy on the sand, with my leg. It’ll go cold if you don’t hurry.’

Which isn’t strictly true, but it’s what Eme needs to hear to get her rushing off to the pier. Silver settles at the cart, scanning the beach for Flint. Then he thinks to look for Billy’s towering head instead, and he spots it down near the waterline. He gets out his phone and texts Flint.

_you ok on your own if man the candy floss machine for a bit?_

_I’m fine,_ Flint texts back. _Don’t get diabetes._

 _tell me if you get bored,_ Silver says. _it’s louder here than i expected_

 _You’re a boyfriend not a babysitter, sweetheart,_ Flint reminds him. _Hal’s here._

He sends a very poorly lit selfie of himself and Hal pulling silly faces to assure Silver. Silver sends a picture back of his embarrassed face mostly obscured by cotton candy.

 _come find me at midnight,_ Flint writes.

 _i thought i wasn’t a babysitter?_ Silver asks.

 _FOR A KISS_ Flint sends, followed by a lot of tongue emojis.

Silver sends back some fireworks before putting his phone away.

‘Are marshmallows extra?’ asks a voice. Silver blinks up at Vanilla Jack.

‘Uh…’ he leans over the cart and picks up the miniature chalkboard to read it.

‘Are you qualified to sell me hot chocolate?’ Vanilla Jack peers at him.

Silver puts the chalkboard back on the easel. ‘You can have free marshmallows,’ he decides.

He makes her a drink. She hums as she sips it. ‘You’ve settled in at this new place?’ she inquires.

‘Yeah,’ Silver says. ‘They’re good people. Feels like a family.’

‘It _is_ a family business, is it not?’

‘Well, yes,’ Silver says. ‘But not everyone’s actually related. Obviously.’

She looks him over. ‘Perhaps better than a family, then.’

‘Maybe,’ Silver shrugs. ‘Isn’t it like that at the startup?’

Vanilla Jack tips her head to one side, considering. She gives a cryptic shrug.

‘Well,’ Silver says. ‘Queens is working out, at any rate.’

‘You landed on your feet,’ she notes.

‘Foot,’ he corrects her. She gives him a sardonic look.

‘Not everyone comes out so well after a bout with Woodes Rogers,’ she says. ‘He almost sank our startup once.’

‘What happened?’ Silver asks.

Vanilla Jack purses her lips. ‘He wanted me to forfeit my place on the board, without assurances that our user data would be protected.’

Silver know she’s simplifying, but she’s also hit the limit of his understanding of the software development business with that anecdote.

‘Afterwards, Anne snooped through his finances,’ she continues. ‘He’s millions in debt.’

‘Wow,’ Silver raises his eyebrows. ‘Does Eleanor know?’

Vanilla Jack shrugs. ‘All I know is she backed me when the deal went bad,’ she says. ‘Is it true you cut his eye out, or was that Charles?’

‘ _I_ didn’t, and I doubt Charles did,’ Silver assures her. ‘I blocked him coming at Flint and he fell on glass.’

‘Good,’ she declares. ’God knows I’d have done worse.’

‘I’m still waiting for the cops to turn up at my door,’ Silver confesses.

‘It happened at Annies, didn’t it?’ she checks. ‘Nothing will come of it.’

‘Why?’

‘Charles has priors,’ she explains. ’The owner takes care of everything for him. He’ll probably make him shift manager one day.’

‘Is that true, about the priors?’ Silver asks. She nods. ‘I mean, really true? And would it be weird if I called you sometimes at three in the morning so you can remind me it’s true?’

‘Don’t call at three in the morning,’ she advises. ‘Anne will kick your head in.’

‘What if I need you to drive me to Canada to flee the cops?’ Silver asks.

‘You still want to go to Canada?’ she raises her eyebrows. ‘I thought you were a kept man these days.’

‘Flint will fit in the car,’ Silver reasons.

‘You, me, Flint, Anne, Jack,’ she counts. ‘Tight squeeze.’

‘You’re taking Jack too?’ Silver asks.

‘Anne wouldn’t go without him,’ Vanilla Jack explains. ‘And I wouldn’t go without Anne.’

‘So you’re a kept woman too?’ Silver asks. He doesn’t see her nearly as much as he used to, and he’s been achingly curious about her labyrinthine love life.

‘I think I am,’ she confesses. ‘She’s not what I expected. But she’s… everything.’

Silver has known Max for longer than anyone in this city. They’d been fast friends early on, both travellers, both cautious of getting too settled anywhere—or with anyone. They used to joke about their road trip to Canada, if things went sour here. It was the kind of joke that helped Silver keep a foot—a metaphorical one, anyway—out the door. They’d almost left once, when Max broke up with Eleanor. But then Max had bought her warehouse, and got her startup off the ground. Silver hadn’t done anything nearly so ambitious, but the idea of leaving doesn’t tug at the corners of his mind like it used to. Now, he has Flint. Now, she has Anne. Also, by the sounds of it, Jack.

‘So her and Jack aren’t…?’ he trails off, with no idea how to finish the sentence.

‘They are,’ she tells him. _‘We_ are. It’s complicated, but it’s making us happy, so... it is.’

‘I believe you,’ he assures her.

‘And now there’s Mark, too,’ she notes. ‘I think you’ll need to go in the trunk.’

‘A whole car of people we couldn’t leave behind...’ Silver whistles through his teeth. She hums in agreement.

‘Does it scare you?’ she asks.

‘Doesn’t it scare you?’ he retorts.

‘Every day,’ she murmurs. ‘But it doesn’t make me want to leave.’

‘You’re head over heels, you know that, right?’ Silver asks, as she laughs in surprise. ‘I mean, you’re always glowing, but you’re _really_ glowing.’

‘Of course I know,’ she says quietly.

‘We did alright,’ Silver smiles. ‘Here.‘

‘Mm,’ she makes an agreeable noise. ‘They say Canada is pretty.’

‘Unlike this,’ Silver says sarcastically. The mist has rolled back and the stars glitter on the water.

‘Is that why we stayed?’ she muses. ‘It’s pretty, and we wouldn’t fit in a car if we left?’

‘Why not?’ Silver asks. ‘The more I think about it, the more those are good reasons.’

‘That’s your definition of home?’

Silver would normally demur, or joke. But before she was Vanilla Jack, CEO, Max was the person he could call at three in the morning to drive him to Canada.

‘There’s something Flint said to me,’ Silver says. ‘The antipodean point. I’m as far away as I could be from the place I was born, without being in the sea. When he said it... I stopped thinking I was running _from_ something. Maybe I was running _to_ something.’

‘To here?’ she asks.

‘To him,’ Silver mumbles.

‘Really?’ Max raises her eyebrows.

‘I don’t know,’ Silver shrugs, letting his hair hide his face. ‘Ask me when I’m stuffed in the trunk of your car halfway to Montreal. Ask _him_ , he rides shotgun so he can lipread.’

‘Ask who?’ Eme asks.

‘No-one!’ Silver replies too quickly. Max smiles, her eyes twinkling with mischief. Silver utters a garbled: ‘Gladyou’rebackEmenowIhavetocheckonmyboyfriend,’ and flees.

He checks his phone for the time, and sees messages from Flint.

_DeGroot‘s got pork buns!_

_The dumpling cart is down the far end._

_Bring two pork buns and one custard please?_

It’s over an hour until midnight. He turns abruptly, his knee complaining, and makes his way along the row of carts.

_on my way there xxx_

_You’re the best,_ he gets back right away.

He finds the cart and gets the dumplings, two pork and two custard (one for himself). He follows the shore back down to find the university crowd near the foot of the pier. Flint is between Hal and Charlotte, laughing at something Hal has shown him on his phone. When he spots Silver, he immediately reels him in for a sloppy kiss. Flint’s mouth tastes dark and spicy. His arm is firm on Silver’s waist, keeping him close even as they finish.

Silver flicks out his tongue, giving Flint a curious look.

 _Mulled wine,_ Flint spells with one hand. Silver tips Flint so he’s not silhouetted by the wharf lights. His lips are redder, stained and tempting. His eyes might be darker, but that could be the night.

Flint zeroes in on the paper bag Silver’s holding, plucking it from him. He devours the dumplings, eyeing Silver’s custard bun but ultimately popping it into Silver’s mouth. It should be too saccharine after the cotton candy, but the warm squishiness and the way Flint smiles as he bites it make taste fantastic.

Charlotte taps his elbow.

 _We know each other!_ she signs, motioning between herself and Silver.

 _We’ve met a few times…_ Silver reminds her, shaking his head curiously.

 _No, I mean, I know you,_ she tells him, her signs a little loose—it seems a lot of mulled wine happened in Silver’s absence. _You know my boyfriend._

 _Who’s your boyfriend?_ Silver asks.

 _He lives in your house,_ Charlotte says.

Silver frowns in confusion. ‘Did you just say he lives in my house?’ he clarifies, still signing for Flint.

‘With Muldoon,’ she tells him. ‘And Randall, and the cat?’

‘Oh!’ Silver interprets what she said to Flint. _He’s their new roommate?_

 _Roommate?_ Charlotte copies the sign, nodding. _Yes. The cat is so cute._

 _She is,_ Flint agrees.

‘Billy!’ calls Charlotte, and like a human lighthouse, Billy turns around. ‘Did you see Logan?’

Billy cranes his neck and points. Charlotte says her goodbyes to them and heads in that direction.

‘That’s useful,’ Silver comments, and Billy double-takes.

‘What?’ Silver asks, signing along for Flint.

‘Sorry,’ Billy says. ‘I forgot you could talk.’

‘I… you what?’ Silver is now equally confused. He interprets for Flint, and Flint nods, taking a deep breath.

 _He means you’re oral,_ Flint guesses.

‘Oh, right,’ Silver catches up, and explains to Billy: ‘I’m Hearing, same as you.’

‘But… if you can talk,’ Billy says. ‘And Flint can talk… why don’t you talk to each other?’

Silver keeps interpreting, expecting Flint to roll his eyes. Flint just sighs.

‘Sorry,’ Billy looks between them. ‘I mean, if you can talk to him properly, why do you use sign language?’

Silver draws on the depths of his patience. ‘Sign language _is_ properly. It’s a whole language. It’s not just something you can learn in a weekend. I’m _still_ learning it.’

Flint signs: _Use an analogy. Would he text a Hearing person if he was talking to them face-to-face?_

Silver translates the concept out loud, following with: ‘Just because you _can_ text them, doesn’t mean it’s the most _comfortable_ way to communicate.’

This takes a little while to sink in to Billy’s brain, but eventually it seems to.

‘… Right, I think I see what you mean,’ he says. ‘Sorry, I didn’t mean any offense.’

‘Forget about it,’ Silver tells him. Flint’s not getting angry, so Silver is trying his best to do the same.

‘Can I get you a drink?’ Billy asks, clearly making a getaway.

‘No thanks,’ Silver says politely, and Flint shakes his head too.

 _I told you he’s an idiot,_ Flint shrugs. _I’ll get Hal to take him aside._

 _It just drives me crazy,_ Silver tells him. _I know he’s only a kid, but really._

 _I know,_ Flint says. _When I first told him I was Deaf, he told me not to worry about it._

_Not to worry about what?_

_Being Deaf,_ Flint says, bemused.

 _Were you… worried…?_ Silver can’t imagine Flint ever being self-conscious.

 _No,_ Flint rolls his eyes. **_He_** _was. People seem to think I tell them because I need their reassurance, not because it’s practical._

 _You didn’t tell me,_ Silver recalls. _You just let me make a fool of myself.  
You’d have made a fool of yourself anyway, _Flint laughs. _I still fell in love with you._

 _Well now_ ** _I_** _need reassurance,_ Silver tells him, and Flint covers the side of his face in kisses. Silver probably smells like a dumpling by the time he’s finished.

 _Did you see Madi yet?_ Flint asks.

_No, I think she’s up on the pier._

_Tell her I say hello,_ Flint squeezes Silver’s side before letting go.

 _You’ll be ok here?_ Silver checks.

 _Darling, I know you’re protective,_ Flint kisses his nose. _But I managed to get by before you came frothing into my life._

 _What if Billy comes back and says something stupid?_ Silver asks.

 _I won’t hear him, will I?_ Flint smirks. Silver shoves him, and Flint shoos him away.

 _Midnight?_ he checks with Silver.

 _Midnight!_ Silver promises.

Silver makes his way up to the pier, weaving between throngs of people as he searches for Madi. He pulls out his phone to text her, then a hand waves in front of the screen. He startles, and realises she’s right in front of him.

‘Hey,’ she gives him a hug. ‘Eme said you were minding the cart.’

Silver kisses her cheek. ‘I may have undercharged for some marshmallows,’ he confesses.

‘We’ll take it out of your pay,’ she rubs his arm, grinning. ‘Where’s Flint?’

‘Down on the beach with everyone from the university,’ Silver points. ‘See the big guy? Somewhere near him.’

They stand at the the rail, but it’s too faint to make out any faces. Looking out onto the water, it’s chillier. Silver shoves his hands into his jacket pockets.

‘I wanted to thank you,’ he says, making a vague, bulky gesture with his jacket. ‘For pushing me to talk to him.’

‘You actually did it?’ she smiles, eyes twinkling.

‘Told him all of it,’ he says. ‘You’re on the same page now.’

‘Well done,’ she tells him sincerely. ‘I’m sure it wasn't easy.’

He shrugs. He stares at the water. The party lights refract restlessly off the inky surface. He glances back at Madi.

‘Yeah,’ he admits. ‘I don’t usually… yeah.’

‘How did he take it?’ she asks.

‘He listened,’ Silver says. ‘Or, you know what I mean. He understood.’

She nods.

‘He got angry,’ Silver recalls. ‘On my behalf. When, I don’t know—it’s not that I was never angry about it. It just never did me any good, so I moved away from it. Now it feels like it’s fresh again, when it’s new to him.’

He thinks of the conversation with Billy again, and catches himself laughing. ‘Oh,’ he mumbles. ‘I’m so stupid.’

‘Not that I disagree,’ Madi elbows him affectionately. ‘But why?’

‘I got bothered about someone saying stupid things about him being Deaf,’ Silver says. ‘I didn’t get why he didn’t care.’

‘Hmm,’ Madi agrees. ‘It’s different when you’re new to it.’

‘I just keep thinking I’m going to fuck this up,’ Silver confesses.

‘Don’t fuck it up,’ she orders him. ‘I like Flint more than you.’

‘Oh, you do?’ Silver grins, lifting his chin in mock offence.

‘Flint’s smart,’ she points out. ‘You’re a cagey little bastard who’s never read a book that didn’t have wizards in it.’

‘That’s not true!’ he protests. It is completely true.

‘Name one—’

‘—I read a murder mystery once,’ Silver informs her. She bursts out laughing.

‘Really though,’ Silver puts an arm around her, squeezing. ‘Thank you. You get me.’

‘You are not half as complicated as you think you are,’ Madi assures him. ‘But you’re a better person than you think, too.’

‘Thanks, I think,’ he says. He seems to say that in every conversation with Madi.

The party is in full swing now, uproarious around them. They keep angled toward the water. There’s no moon yet, so beyond the lights of the party, the horizon disappears in the dark.

‘Have you made any resolutions?’ Silver asks.

‘One or two,’ she admits. ‘What about you?’

‘Oh, I don’t know,’ Silver jokes. ‘I don’t usually get around to making them until at least September.’

She peers at him, then asks: ‘That's Rosh Hashanah, right?’

He grins. ‘You got me.’

‘Did you make any last September?’

‘Not really,’ he shifts his weight. ‘I’m not really used to making plans, beyond paying the rent. To finish ASL classes, I guess. And to Not Fuck This Up.’

‘Those are good ones,’ she nods.

‘What about yours?’ he prompts her again. She knows the same trick he does, answering questions with questions.

She ducks her chin a little. ‘I thought I might try to get a date.’

‘That’s it?’

‘Don’t laugh!’ she implores him. ‘It’s hard when you have my mother. She intimidates people.’

‘Your mother’s lovely once you get to know her,’ Silver says. ‘But I know it could be weird dating someone you work with. Being a family business, if it doesn’t work out...’

‘Oh my god, I’m not dating _you,’_ she rolls her eyes.

‘I didn’t say me!’ Silver cocks his head. ‘I was _going_ to say I think she’s definitely interested.’

‘You think...’ Madi’s mouth falls open. _‘She_ who?’

 _‘She_ who brought you hot chocolate,’ Silver tells her. ‘Is that not who you meant?’

‘Oh!’ Madi ducks her head even lower. ‘Oh... so you think...?’

Silver might be overdoing it as a matchmaker. ‘I don’t know anything about anything that’s not wizards, remember. Maybe you should ask her.’

Madi stares at the water for a while, lost in the new possibility. Silver stands in silence with her, watching the lines of the golden filaments in the lights above them.

‘Um… I hope I’m not interrupting. I wanted to say hi.’

Silver blinks, half-blinded as he makes out the shape of Eleanor.

‘Oh,’ he says. ‘Well… hi.’

‘It’s been a while,’ Madi says, turning to her. ‘How are you?’

‘Yeah, surviving,’ Eleanor nods. It gives Silver a moment to get his bearings.

‘That’s good,’ he says thickly.

‘How’s your fiancé?’ Madi asks, her voice perfectly neutral.

‘We broke up, actually,’ Eleanor says quietly. ‘Just recently.’

Silver nods, probably too emphatically, because it’s the best contribution he can think of to the conversation. Madi doesn’t offer condolences either way.

‘His recovery went well,’ Eleanor turns directly to Silver. ‘There’s scars, but they should fade.’

‘I’m glad to hear that,’ Silver nods, not quite looking her in the eye. ‘Really, I am.’

‘I’m sorry,’ Eleanor says suddenly. ‘I just wanted to say—about what he… well, afterwards. There were things he said. I didn’t realise.’

It’s a mess of an apology, but Silver supposes it’s a mess of a situation. He probably couldn’t offer her much better for accidentally cutting up her fiancé’s face.

‘Thanks,’ he says. ‘So, are you opening the café back up?’

‘Soon, yeah,’ she tells him. ‘I just needed some time with everything. If you wanted to come back…’

‘I can’t,’ he says, as diplomatically as he can. ‘I work for Madi now.’

Madi smiles. ‘I’m keeping him.’

‘Oh, of course,’ Eleanor says. ‘I just wanted to, well, mention it.’

‘I appreciate it,’ Silver nods.

‘I’m glad, though,’ she assures him. ‘Your dad was a great boss.’

‘I know,’ Madi smiles.

‘He still is,’ Silver says, then to Eleanor: ‘Have you got someone?’

‘A college girl,’ Eleanor nods. ‘Abigail. She doesn’t pull shots like you did, though.’

‘Tell you what,’ Silver offers. ‘Maybe I’ll come by and show her how it’s done.’

Eleanor looks like she’s going to cry.

‘I’d really like that,’ she murmurs, and looks at Madi. ‘If you can spare him?’

‘I’m sure we’ll manage,’ Madi nods.

‘How’s Flint?’ Eleanor asks.

‘He’s well,’ Silver casts his gaze in the direction of the crowd on the beach. He can no longer make out the university group: they seem to have dispersed. ‘He was just over... there...’

He pulls out his phone. A message at 11:50pm: _You still on the pier?_

It’s 11:57. Fuck.

‘Excuse me,’ he says to Madi and Eleanor. Madi nods, turning to Eleanor so they can catch up properly. Silver jogs along until he’s directly over Billy.

‘BILLY!’ he hollers. Billy takes a second to realise the voice is coming from above him. ‘WHERE’S FLINT?!’

Billy does an exaggerated shrug. He points up and down the pier quizzically.

‘Shit,’ Silver mutters. He keeps going to the foot of the wharf, half-leaning over the rail to survey the beach. Flint’s not there.

He ducks and weaves among the clusters of people. None of them contain Flint. He moves from one crowd to the next, apologising as he pokes his head around. It’s slow going, and the uneven wood of the pier is giving his leg hell. There’s no way to move quickly without it hurting, and no way to get through everyone without moving quickly. He should have added another sock to the liner, but it's too late for that now. He grumbles under his breath, limping by the time he’s halfway along.

‘Ten!’

Fucking shit and damn it all to hell—all the partygoers start counting, clustering toward the rail. It clears a path for Silver, but it’s impossible to find Flint. He keeps moving, sure he hasn’t missed Flint so far.

‘Nine! Eight!’

Pain shoots up his thigh and he quickly pulls his phone from his pocket.

 _On pier, where are you?_ Flint sent it a minute ago.

‘Seven! Six!’

Silver gets up in the face of a random redhead, but keeps jogging when he realises it’s not Flint. How many people can there be?

‘Five! Four!’

 _‘Fuck, fuck, fuck,’_ he mutters. He’s almost at the end of the pier, where the crowd is thin.

‘Three! Two!’

There’s a silhouette looking out toward the sea. One he knows. Flint hasn’t heard the countdown.

Silver’s ankle twists and he stumbles.

‘One!’

The first flash of a firework catches Flint’s attention, and as he spins around in surprise Silver goes crashing into him. For a terrifying moment they’re a flailing of limbs about to go careening off the end of the pier. Then Flint manages to take Silver’s weight, pulling Silver into his arms. Silver clings to Flint’s waist and kisses him like his life depends on it. Like it’s been a year since they last saw each other. Like he’s drowning and Flint is air. The fireworks whistle and pop and for just a moment, Silver imagines the party’s cheers are for this.

Flint gradually pulls Silver back upright, keeping them together chest-to-chest. His kiss slows, until it’s just his nose bumping Silver’s, then his breath on Silver’s lips. He twists his head to one side, their foreheads touching, and starts nudging Silver to turn and look out at the water.

The fireworks are bursting in quick succession, in pinks and blues and golds. They spiral and explode, the sound never quite catching up with the sight. Silver squirms with delight when a rocket explodes into twinkles. A big one explodes, and tiny lights begin showering down from each point, like glowing rain.

Flint’s mouth is still pressed to his temple, and Silver can feel it curved into a smile. He suspects Flint is enjoying Silver’s reaction as much as he’s enjoying the show. They stand and watch for minutes, holding each other tight against the cold. Silver rocks them gently while he works out the cramp in his leg, until it feels like it follows the rhythm of the waves below them.

The show slows and the crowd quietens, but Flint waits patiently and watches with Silver. The air is bright with smoke and the smell of gunpowder. It ends with a brilliant burst that flickers into tumbling lights, with stars falling in the sea.

Silver steals one more kiss.

 _I almost didn’t make it,_ he tells Flint.

 _But you did,_ Flint smiles. _You did._

**Author's Note:**

> [I might organise some prompts before Valentine's Day, so come say hi on tumblr!](http://r0b0tb0y.tumblr.com)


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